I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communication, and more specifically to techniques for transmitting and receiving data in a wireless communication network.
II. Background
A wireless communication network may include a number of stations that can transmit and receive data. The coverage of a given station may be smaller than a desired coverage area. The small coverage may be due to various reasons such as low maximum transmit power, spectral mask constraints, high frequency spectrum, etc.
A large number of stations may be used to cover a given geographic area. These stations should be able to communicate with one other over the air since interconnecting many stations via a backhaul network may be expensive. The stations may be operated as unplanned repeaters that can “amplify and forward” transmissions. However, the unplanned repeaters may result in positive feedback loops and may also amplify noise. The stations may also be operated as incremental redundancy (IR) stations that can “decode and forward” transmissions in an uncoordinated manner. However, the IR stations may require carrier sensing and/or route planning in order to minimize collisions and manage interference. The IR stations may thus be highly inefficient if there is a large number of stations. Techniques for effectively transmitting and receiving data over a large geographic area are desirable.